Pesticide
Application Forces Closing of Hospital Emergency Room(Beyond
Pesticides, August 2, 2006) A deadly rain of pigeons fell
out of the sky in Schenectady, New York, on Thursday evening, after
a pesticide application, forcing the closing of a local hospital emergency
room.. According to ABC
News, Ellis Hospital had contracted with a pest control company
to dispose of a growing pigeon population on the roof of the hospital.
The pigeons and their droppings posed a health hazard and a nuisance.
The company, Rentokil, Inc., applied the avian pesticide Avitrol on
July 28 in a mixture of corn and birdseed. The pesticide was supposed
to poison a few birds whose erratic behavior and death would frighten
off the rest of the flock. Instead, it caused twenty-eight pigeons to
be killed and fall from the sky around the Ellis Hospital emergency
room. "Birds were coming down like dive bombers," according
to Fire Chief Robert Farstad.

The birds were noticed
by local firefighters at the hospital for an unrelated reason; it was
soon clear that they had been poisoned and steps had to be taken to
protect citizens. The
Albany Times Union reports that the roads were closed in a one-block
radius around the hospital to prevent pigeons from damaging cars and
windshields. Further, the Emergency Room was closed to ambulance traffic
from 9 to 11 p.m. and ambulances were diverted to other hospitals. It
continued to remain open for walk-ins and current patients.

Emergency workers
spent hours searching the hospital grounds for dead birds and putting
them into red hazardous waste bags. Afterwards, workers were examined
to make sure they were not harmed by the pesticide. Several other people
were also decontaminated following the incident, but no reports of illness
or injury have been heard so far. G. Jack Parisi, director of environmental
health for Schenectady County, reported that several dead pigeons were
taken to the DEC wildlife pathology lab for analysis. The remaining
bodies were incinerated at a nearby animal shelter.

The New York Department
of Environmental Conservation is looking into the possibility that the
Avitrol was misapplied by Rentokil Inc. Rentokil issued a statement
on Friday that the pesticide was applied according to regulations by
an experienced and licensed applicator. The company plans to cooperate
with the investigation. Avitrol has been banned in New York City but
remains controversially legal in other parts of the state, and this
incident has only fanned the flames.

Audubon New York
states that, “Avitrol can cause the deaths of birds of prey, including
bald eagles, peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks if they ingest carcasses
of poisoned birds,” and has urged state officials to ban the pesticide
and advocate alternative pigeon control. The
Albany Times Union reports that the hospital had attempted alternatives
such as loud noises and nest disposal before it turned to Avitrol, but
has currently halted the application of the pesticide while reconsidering
pigeon control methods. Audubon New York suggests the attachment of
metal spikes to the pigeon roofing area, eliminating the place where
they congregate, rather than using a poison such as Avitrol.